2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season

The 2024-25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began on October 4, 2024 and will conclude with the NCAA championship on April 11, 2025. This will be the 77th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship is being held and will be the US college hockey's 131st year overall.

Conference realignment

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Arizona State formally joined the NCHC, bringing the number of conference members up to nine.[1] Initially, the league instituted a play-in game for the final quarterfinal spot in the NCHC tournament.[2] However, due to the logistics of a play-in game prior to the quarterfinals being too complicated with travel and additional strain on student-athletes and staff during a critical time of the season, the play-in game was scrapped and now only the top eight teams will make the NCHC tournament.[3]

Augustana, which had joined the CCHA in 2023, had been scheduled to become a full-time member beginning with the 2025–26 season. However, despite only playing a partial conference schedule, the league decided to accelerate the Vikings assimilation into the league and made Augustana eligible for the conference tournament.[4] Because Augustana's schedule had already been set prior to the announcement, the CCHA elected to have their conference standings decided by winning percentage of conference games. Despite this bringing the number of full conference members up to nine, the CCHA decided against expanding their conference tournament. This means that only eight CCHA teams will play in the playoffs.

Polls

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Regular season

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Season tournaments

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Tournament Dates Teams Champion
Ice Breaker Tournament October 11–12 4 Omaha
Great Lakes Invitational December 4
Holiday Face-Off December 4
Adirondack Winter Invitational December 4
Ledyard Bank Classic December 4
Desert Hockey Classic January 4
Connecticut Ice January 4
Beanpot February 4

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OW OL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Air Force
American International
Army
Bentley
Canisius
Holy Cross
Mercyhurst
Niagara
RIT
Robert Morris
Sacred Heart
Championship: March 21, 2024
† indicates conference regular season champion (DeGregorio Trophy)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#4 Minnesota 6 6 0 0 1 0 0 17 21 11 14 12 2 0 60 29
#2 Michigan State 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 12 20 9 10 9 1 0 38 18
#5т Michigan 4 4 0 0 1 0 0 11 22 14 12 9 2 1 48 33
Wisconsin 8 3 5 0 1 3 0 11 21 21 12 4 8 0 29 37
#14 Ohio State 4 2 2 0 1 0 0 5 7 10 12 9 2 1 43 25
Notre Dame 8 1 7 0 1 1 0 3 19 33 14 5 9 0 38 44
Penn State 6 0 6 0 0 1 0 1 19 31 11 4 7 0 36 40
Championship: March 22, 2025
† indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated November 23, 2024
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PCT ^ GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Augustana
Bemidji State
Bowling Green
Ferris State
Lake Superior State
Michigan Tech
#17 Minnesota State
Northern Michigan
St. Thomas
Championship: March 20, 2024
† indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Mason Cup)
^ Because Augustana is playing a transition schedule of 16 games against conference opponents, point percentage is used to determine conference position
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll
Overall record
GP W L T GF GA
Alaska
Alaska Anchorage
Lindenwood
Long Island
Stonehill
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Brown
#19 Clarkson
Colgate
#8 Cornell
#16 Dartmouth
Harvard
Princeton
#18 Quinnipiac
Rensselaer
St. Lawrence
Union
Yale
Championship: March 21, 2025
† indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#3 Boston College
#13 Boston University
Connecticut
#5т Maine
#20 Massachusetts
#15 Massachusetts Lowell
Merrimack
New Hampshire
Northeastern
#10 Providence
Vermont
Championship: March 21, 2025
† indicates regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO Division I Men's Poll
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#9 Western Michigan 4 3 0 1 1 0 0 9 10 6 8 6 1 1 27 14
#7 Colorado College 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 8 10 8 10 8 1 1 33 16
#1 Denver 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 12 12 8 4 57 17
Minnesota Duluth 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 6 16 13 11 5 6 0 37 37
#12 North Dakota 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 6 15 12 11 5 6 0 37 34
#11 St. Cloud State 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 6 3 11 8 3 0 26 21
Arizona State 4 1 3 0 0 1 0 4 9 13 12 4 7 1 31 32
Omaha 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 3 9 11 10 3 7 0 18 25
Miami 4 0 4 0 0 1 0 1 5 18 14 3 9 2 30 37
Championship: March 30, 2025
† indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Updated: November 18, 2024

PairWise Rankings

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The PairWise Rankings (PWR) are a statistical tool designed to approximate the process by which the NCAA selection committee decides which teams get at-large bids to the 16-team NCAA tournament. Although the NCAA selection committee does not use the PWR as presented by USCHO, the PWR has been accurate in predicting which teams will make the tournament field.

For Division I men, all teams are included in comparisons starting in the 2013–14 season (formerly, only teams with a Ratings Percentage Index of .500 or above, or teams under consideration, were included). The PWR method compares each team with every other such team, with the winner of each “comparison” earning one PWR point. After all comparisons are made, the points are totaled up and rankings listed accordingly.

With 64 Division I men's teams, the greatest number of PWR points any team could earn is 63, winning the comparison with every other team. Meanwhile, a team that lost all of its comparisons would have no PWR points.

Teams are then ranked by PWR point total, with ties broken by the teams’ RPI ratings, which starting in 2013–14 is weighted for home and road games and includes a quality wins bonus (QWB) for beating teams in the top 20 of the RPI (it also is weighted for home and road).

When it comes to comparing teams, the PWR uses three criteria which are combined to make a comparison: RPI, record against common opponents and head-to-head competition. Starting in 2013–14, the comparison of record against teams under consideration was dropped because all teams are now under comparison.[5]

NCAA Division I Men's Hockey PairWise Rankings[6]
Rank Team PWR RPI Conference
1 Denver 63 .7263* NCHC
2 Boston College 62 .7059* Hockey East
3 Michigan State 61 .6733* Big Ten
4 Dartmouth 60 .6280* ECAC Hockey
5 Maine 59 .6192 Hockey East
6 St. Cloud State 58 .6095* NCHC
7 Minnesota 57 .6084* Big Ten
8 Cornell 56 .5964* ECAC Hockey
9 Western Michigan 55 .5911* NCHC
10 Massachusetts Lowell 54 .5909 Hockey East
11 Ohio State 53 .5892 Big Ten
12 Michigan 52 .5826 Big Ten
13 Providence 51 .5666 Hockey East
14 Boston University 50 .5627 Hockey East
15 Colorado College 49 .5589* NCHC
16 Minnesota State 48 .5545* CCHA
17 Clarkson 46 .5310 ECAC Hockey
17 Augustana 46 .5290 CCHA
19 Michigan Tech 45 .5286 CCHA
20 Quinnipiac 44 .5281 ECAC Hockey
21 Connecticut 42 .5248 Hockey East
21 New Hampshire 42 .5226 Hockey East
23 North Dakota 41 .5208 NCHC
24 Princeton 40 .5172 ECAC Hockey
25 Massachusetts 39 .5136 Hockey East
26 Bentley 38 .5133 AHA
27 Long Island 37 .5062 Independent
27 Notre Dame 37 .5053 Big Ten
29 Colgate 35 .5042 ECAC Hockey
30 Union 33 .5037 ECAC Hockey
30 Harvard 33 .5014 ECAC Hockey
32 Minnesota Duluth 31 .4983 NCHC
32 Sacred Heart 31 .4983 AHA
34 Alaska 30 .4982 Independent
35 Niagara 29 .4914 AHA
36 Bowling Green 28 .4866 CCHA
37 Wisconsin 27 .4866 Big Ten
38 Air Force 26 .4866 AHA
39 Arizona State 25 .4841 NCHC
40 Bemidji State 24 .4836 CCHA
41 Penn State 23 .4827 Big Ten
42 Merrimack 22 .4777 Hockey East
43 Vermont 21 .4748 Hockey East
44 Rensselaer 20 .4746 ECAC Hockey
45 Northeastern 19 .4716 Hockey East
46 Army 18 .4711 AHA
47 Lake Superior State 17 .4702 CCHA
48 Robert Morris 16 .4693 AHA
49 St. Thomas 15 .4683 CCHA
50 American International 14 .4621 AHA
51 Holy Cross 13 .4513 AHA
52 Yale 12 .4434 ECAC Hockey
53 Omaha 11 .4389 NCHC
54 Lindenwood 10 .4341 Independent
54 Canisius 10 .4308 AHA
56 Stonehill 8 .4286 Independent
57 Miami 7 .4237 NCHC
58 RIT 6 .4202 AHA
59 Alaska Anchorage 5 .4101 Independent
60 Ferris State 4 .4060 CCHA
61 St. Lawrence 3 .3947 ECAC Hockey
62 Northern Michigan 2 .3795 CCHA
63 Brown 1 .3788 ECAC Hockey
64 Mercyhurst 0 .3491 AHA
*A team's RPI has been adjusted to remove negative effect from defeating a weak opponent
Note: A team's record is based only on games against other Division I hockey schools which are eligible for the NCAA Tournament
Updated: November 17, 2024

Player stats

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Scoring leaders

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Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM
Jack Devine Senior Denver 12 1 20 21 4
Aidan Thompson Junior Denver 12 9 11 20 4
Sam Harris Sophomore Denver 11 10 6 16 6
Ben Muthersbaugh Freshman Union 11 8 8 16 4
Harrison Scott Senior Maine 11 6 10 16 6
Cole O'Hara Junior Massachusetts 12 4 12 16 6
Dominic James Senior Minnesota Duluth 10 7 8 15 8
Connor Kurth Junior Minnesota 12 7 8 15 4
Riley Thompson Freshman Ohio State 12 5 10 15 6
Jimmy Snuggerud Junior Minnesota 12 5 10 15 17
Matthew Wood Junior Minnesota 12 4 11 15 6
Shane Ott Senior Niagara 13 3 12 15 4

As of November 16, 2024.[7]

Awards

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Month Award Recipient
October [8] Player of the Month Jack Devine, Denver
Rookie of the Month Ben Muthersbaugh, Union
Goaltender of the Month Josh Kotai, Augustana
Owen Say, Notre Dame

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Arizona State hockey program set to join National Collegiate Hockey Conference in 2024-25 season - PHNX". July 5, 2023.
  2. ^ "NCHC announces change in playoff format, will move exclusively to campus sites beginning with 2026 postseason tournament". USCHO. December 19, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "NCHC Announces 10-Team Playoff Format Starting in 2027". NCHC. July 25, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  4. ^ "Augustana to join CCHA year early in 2024-25 as league will adjust standings, have eight of nine teams qualify for conference playoffs". USCHO. July 16, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "PairWise Rankings explanation". Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  6. ^ "Men's Division I PairWise Rankings". Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  7. ^ "National 2024–25 Scoring Leaders". College Hockey inc. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  8. ^ "Denver's Devine, Union's Muthersbaugh, Augustana's Kotai, Notre Dame's Say take home monthly HCA accolades". USCHO.com. November 2, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2024.